It is said that in the snowy city on the Gelet Plateau in the far north, there once existed a unique tower called Jingyin Tower.
This building employs skilled craftsmen from around the world, and many masterpieces are their work. Every three years, the owner of the building hosts a grand banquet, spending lavishly. During the banquet, a warrior emerges victorious, gaining access to the depths of the building and a glimpse of the owner's vast collection of jade and stone artifacts. True to its name, Jingyin Tower harbors hidden mysteries, and only the owner knows how to navigate the winding paths that lead to secluded passages. Despite the countless treasures within, no one has ever been able to glimpse even a single glimpse.
A jade lover who had the good fortune to enter the building once wrote the following description of the marvelous sights there:
The platform is square, with six pavilions, twenty-four corridors, and seventy-two doors. It connects the east, west, south, north, sky and earth in a winding way without seeing each other.
As the name suggests, each part of the building seems independent but can be connected to each other in a secret way.
The same is true for Jingbo Tower now.
Xiao Nanhui returned to the secret passage, but she didn't take the same route she had come in. She followed Su Wei, twisting and turning in the darkness for a while, and when she saw the light again, she realized she had somehow turned to the north side of the tower.
Previously, the side facing the lake had a wide view, with no obstructions anywhere, allowing one to see hundreds of steps away. But now, this side faced a high wall.
There was only about ten feet between the wall and the railing of the pavilion. Jingbo Tower was at least several dozen feet high, but the wall was even taller than the pavilion. A closer look revealed traces of new and old repairs on the rammed earth. The huge stone bricks looked ancient and weathered, with a thick layer of moss left over from years of wind and rain, alternating between gray and white and green, indicating a hundred years of alternating life and death.
"That's the palace wall over there. If you poke your head in, be careful you'll get shot by an arrow."
Xiao Nanhui felt a little embarrassed when his thoughts were exposed. He coughed lightly and retracted his head.
This was the palace wall. Back then, when she had stood at the foot of the wall of the Dongtian family, she had thought the palace wall was nothing special. But now, she realized how ignorant she had been.
The atmosphere became awkward for a moment, and she tried to change the subject.
"This building is only a thin line away from the palace wall. Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that someone might use this place to sneak into the palace?"
"Then do you know why the entrance to Jingbo Tower is located inside the Black Feather Camp? Besides, the principle of getting out being easier than getting in shouldn't be that difficult to understand."
The other party's answer was somewhat nonchalant, which seemed to highlight the "stupidity" of her question.
Not to mention how outsiders would know about this place, the Black Feather Camp alone is enough to give ordinary thieves a hard time.
She was unwilling to accept this, and added in a pretentious tone, "Your Majesty also needs to understand that it is difficult to guard against thieves within your own family."
The figure walking in front paused, suddenly turned around and looked at her meaningfully.
"really."
What does this mean? Are you calling her a thief?
Xiao Nanhui was inexplicably angry, but also felt guilty.
At this moment, the sound of carriages and horses passing by came from below.
She unconsciously looked down and saw a carriage coming from the alley between the palace wall and the pavilion, which was just big enough to accommodate her, and then slowly stopped at the end of the alley.
A man jumped out of the car, it was Ding Weixiang.
But Xiao Nanhui's gaze was still on the carriage.
The carriage looked ordinary, just like the kind of carriage that wealthy families in Quecheng would use when traveling, but she felt inexplicably familiar with it.
The man noticed her puzzled and inquiring gaze.
"You did ride in that car."
Xiao Nanhui was stunned for a moment, then he matched the carriage number among the few he had ridden in.
That was the carriage they took on their way back from Huozhou.
She was tricked into losing the imperial seal, and when she turned around to find someone to settle the score, the other person had disappeared along with the carriage.
Now it seems normal that she can't find a place that doesn't even exist on the map.
However, when did the carriages in this palace become so unrefined?
"Is this...the palace's car?"
"No." Su Wei paused, the old prime minister's exasperated face almost appearing before his eyes. Then he waved his sleeves nonchalantly, "It belongs to an old friend. I borrowed it and forgot to return it."
That's right, the palace carriage is too conspicuous. I'm afraid that the news will spread throughout the neighborhood before it even leaves this street.
Xiao Nanhui did not bother to investigate who the old friend the emperor was referring to was, nor did he think about who could have made the emperor use the word "borrow".
In just a moment, Ding Weixiang's figure appeared on the balcony. She couldn't even see which secret passage he came out from.
Jingbo Tower was only separated from the Imperial Palace by a wall. She suddenly became curious about how many dark, endless secret passages there were in the building, and whether one of them led directly to the depths of the Imperial Palace...
"Greetings to His Majesty, and to Miss Xiao."
Huh? When did this lackey become so polite to her?
Xiao Nanhui looked at Ding Weixiang with a somewhat alert look, but the other party obviously had no intention of engaging in an eye contest with her. He took out two rather thick veils and handed them to her, and put one on himself.
Su Wei took it and handed one of them to Xiao Nanhui.
"This has been pre-smoked with styrax. You'd better wear it."
Incense? Why incense? Does she smell strange?
Xiao Nanhui took it with some confusion.
"Are we going to meet someone?"
"I guess so."
After half a cup of tea, she understood why she had to wear the veil.
There was darkness ahead, and she seemed to have walked into an empty room with no windows and stone walls on all sides.
A foul smell of something rotting came towards me from the darkness. Even wearing a thick veil, I couldn't stop the smell from entering my nostrils.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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